Last month, SayCampusLife published an article titled, “Survey Reveals 157 Student Deaths From Drinking,” where we pointed out that students are dying as a result of playing drinking games which may result in alcoholic poisoning. What the article didn’t mention is that the problem of alcohol abuse is much deeper than that, resulting in as many as 1700 student deaths each year.

The Consequences Of Excessive Drinking

Just in time for the start of the new academic year, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) is urging parents to have a conversation with their adult children before they head off to school. Specifically, the NIAAA wants parents to discuss with them the consequences of excessive drinking which includes vandalism, violence, sexual aggression, and even death.

According to the NIAAA, first time students heading off to college typically drink less than their high school friends who choose not to attend college.  However, once at college, that trend quickly reverses itself particularly in the first six weeks of school when adjusting to a new environment is the hardest for them.  Besides the harm that can afflict students from abusing alcohol, as many as one-third of college freshmen fail to return for their sophomore year.

Parents Can Play An Important Part In Helping Their Children

To stem the tide of excessive drinking, the NIAAA recommends that parents get involved. Specifically, the organization recommends:

• Find out what the school’s alcohol policies are.
• Check up on sons and daughters frequently.
• Ask about their roommates and their living conditions.
• Parents should discuss the consequences of underage drinking, particularly the legal penalties as well as how alcohol use can lead to date rape, violence, and academic failure.

Parents are also encouraged to refer their sons and daughters to the NIAAA website (www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov) which features alcohol policies at most schools across the USA, an interactive program which shows how alcohol affects the human body, and related materials.

Grim Statistics Which Should Not Include Your Children

Statistics from the NIAAA report indicate that drinking by college students aged 18 to 24 contributes to an estimated 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries, and 97,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape each year. Clearly, college bound sons and daughters must be warned about this problem, a subject that the NIAAA is eager to spotlight.

(Source: www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov)

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Tags: alcohol, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, college drinking, student drinking

Drinking alcohol and attending college go hand in hand. At least that is the opinion of some students who equate “having a good time” with getting drunk.

College administrators, most students, and many faculty members know that overdrinking is a problem, but a recent survey by the Associated Press (AP) reveals just how deadly a habit that it is. In fact, when the AP accessed federal records for the years 1999 through 2005, a shocking revelation was made: 157 people literally drank themselves to death during that time. This number cites only those who overdosed on alcohol and doesn’t include deaths from drunk driving, accidents, or other incidents.

Of the 157 deaths, 83 were students who were below the federal drinking age of 21. Clearly illegal, alcohol is widely available at some fraternity and sorority houses, college dorms, and in private housing.

Behind the deaths is a practice of binge drinking where students will chug down beer after beer and/or drink shots of vodka or other alcoholic beverages. The AP survey revealed that many students drank themselves beyond oblivion, as much as five times the .8 limit of intoxication.

Beer Pong and Other Games

Intoxication often takes place as a result of certain drinking games played. Beer pong is one such activity whereby players toss a ping pong ball across a table in an effort to land the ball in one of several cups of beer on the other end. A pair of two-player teams participate, one on each side of a table, and a number of cups are set up on each side. The rules vary according to the game, but when the ball lands in a cup the defending team must drink all of the beer in that cup. Eventually, all of the beer on site is consumed (often quickly) which contributes to alcohol poisoning.

College and universities are trying to stop this behavior by reaching incoming freshmen and warning them about the hazards of binge drinking. Some schools have designated professors to intervene and by passing laws to forbid this practice. Of course, if students are already breaking the law by drinking before they are 21, will these new laws be able to stop the practice of drinking oneself to death?

Further Reading

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Tags: alcohol, alcohol poisoning, beer, binge drinking, drunk, overdrinking, vodka